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fll>£ Best ffrfenb 

Being Six Meditations for The 
Quiet Hour 



/ By 
Floyd W'?Tornkins, S. T. D. 

Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Phila- 
delphia. Author of " Following Christ," 
" The Christian Life," etc. 



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United Society of Christian Endeavor 
Boston and Chicago 



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. 72?* 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

TWO COWES RECEIVED 

JUN. 27 1901 

Copyright entry 
0LASS OsXKc N». 

/ / 7 ^ 3 

COPY B. 



Copyrighted, 1901, 

by the 

United Society of Christian Endeavor 









•# 



« • • 









• • • 















••. 









Dedicated to my dear friends, 
Members of the Young Peoples' Societies 



Preface. 



Some of these meditations were used at 
the Convention of the Christian Endeavor 
Societies held in Cincinnati, July, 1901. 
The substance of them has been used in 
newspaper articles, particularly in the Phila- 
delphia Ledger in months past. They are 
gathered together here in the hope and with 
the prayer that they may be aids at the 
Quiet Hour of the personal Christian. 

In the midst of life's hurry and bustle and 
work, even Christian work, we must stop 
and look to him, our "Best Friend," our 
dear Jesus, to gain rest, inspiration, power. 
It is impossible to be a true man or a true 
woman, it is impossible to do work well, it 
is impossible to be happy, unless we thus 
draw near in stillness and worship, and 
meditate. 

No greater good has come to the Christian 
world during the past twenty years than 
this suggestion and use of the Quiet Hour. 
The public use has grown, and no gather- 

5 



Preface. 

ing of Christians is now deemed complete 
without it. The private use has grown; 
and thousands of Christians, young and 
old, can testify of the peace which Jesus 
has given in this silent waiting hour. 

But we must be careful now that the 
hour is made strong. It may easily degen- 
erate into a sentimental and moody thought 
of self, or else into excited and unreal use 
of language concerning the Master. We 
need to think of Christ as altogether lovely 
and loving, but also as the one whom we 
follow and serve. Hence our meditations 
must be manly, honest, and intelligent. We 
need to know the truth and then to do it. 

Perhaps these little pages may help to 
such useful advance of purpose and char- 
acter in the Quiet Hour worship. May God 
grant it, for without his blessing all things 
are vain. 

Floyd W. Tomkins. 

Holy Trinity Rectory , Philadelphia. 



Contents 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. CONFESSING CHRIST 9 

II. TRUSTING CHRIST 23 

III. WALKING WITH CHRIST 35 

IV. SERVING CHRIST 47 

V. NOURISHED BY CHRIST 59 

VI. CHRIST IN ME 69 



I. 

CONFESSING CHRIST. 



Suggested Reading, St. Matt, io : 32-39 



I. 

Confessing Christ. 



Prayer. 

Jesus, I have promised 
To serve thee to the end; 

Be thou forever near me, 
My Master and my Friend. 

1 shall not fear the battle 

If thou art by my side, 
Nor wander from the pathway 
If thou wilt be my guide. 

let me feel thee near me ; 
The world is ever near ; 

1 see the sights that dazzle, 
The tempting sounds I hear ; 

My foes are ever near me, 
Around me and within ; 

But, Jesus, draw thou nearer, 
And shield my soul from sin. 

O let me hear thee speaking 
In accents clear and still, 

Above the storms of passion, 
The murmurs of self-will, 

II 



12 My Best Friend. 

O speak to reassure me, 

To hasten or control. 
O speak, and make me listen, . 

Thou guardian of my soul. 

O Jesus, thou hast promised 

To all who follow thee 
That where thou art in glory 

There shall thy servant be ; 
And, Jesus, I have promised 

To serve thee to the end ; 
O give me grace to follow, 

My Master and my Friend. 

O let me see thy foot-marks, 

And in them plant my own. 
My hope to follow duly 

Is in thy strength alone. 
O guide me, call me, draw me, 

Uphold me to the end. 
At last in heaven receive me, 

My Saviour and my Friend. 

—Rev. John E. Bode, i86g. 






The Christian religion takes its name 
from Christ and depends upon him. He 
founded it when he came from heaven. 
And a Christian is one who follows Christ 
accepting him as the Leader and the Saviour' 
A confession of Christ, then, is a following 






Confessing Christ. 13 

of him and an acceptance of his teaching. 
In this sense a great many people are 
Christians unconsciously. They believe in 
the teachings of Jesus so far as they know 
them, and they try to obey his commands. 
But there is something wanting in their 
loyalty. For, while it is all very well for a 
man to feel friendly towards a great cause 
or a great leader, his adherence has little 
influence upon himself or upon others un- 
less it is acknowledged. The belief which 
asserts itself, which is not ashamed of itself, 
which joins hands with him who is its 
foundation and calls itself after his name, 
that is the belief which conquers the world 
and the individual. Hence we see how 
important it is that a man should frankly, 
honestly say, "J am a Christian. " It makes 
clear the meaning of his life; it brings 
others to study and acknowledge that 
which he commends; it helps him to be 
loyal to his Lord's wishes. 

What is implied in such a confession ? 
What obligation does it place upon a man ? 
No obligation which does not already rest 
upon him. As soon as a man knows the 
difference between right and wrong his in- 
telligence becomes his authority, and he 



14 My Best Friend. 

cannot escape it. No man can slight this 
responsibility; whether he calls himself a 
Christian or not, whether he has joined a 
church or not, every man is bound to live 
up to the best knowledge he has. 

To confess Christ, then, is to acknowl- 
edge in a manly way this responsibility, 
and to receive in return a promised help to 
bear it. This help God sends to him who 
confesses, and it is a help which (i) 
strengthens, (2) comforts, and (3) saves. 

The Confessor's Strength. 

I. We marvel how those thousands of 
native Chinese Christians could have been 
brave enough to die without a murmur last 
summer. We read of the old martyrs of 
the second and third centuries, and wonder 
how they could endure. We see the sweet 
patience of some child of God to-day who 
is sick, a " shut-in," an intense sufferer; 
and we ask how she can bear it. No mere 
enthusiasm for a person or a cause can ex- 
plain it. No excitement of the moment can 
last all through hours and days of pain, or 
give power to refuse the freedom which 
might come by denying principle and 
right. 



Confessing Christ. 15 

When I see an athlete doing that which it 
would instantly kill me to try to do, I say 
his training has given him power. When I 
see a wise man sit down before the strange 
hieroglyphics of the Syriac language and 
translate them, I say his duty has made his 
mind keen. So when the Christian is 
brave, self-denying, patient, I say he has 
got these qualities from the grace of God in 
which he has exercised himself. He has 
prayed, and read the Bible, and denied him- 
self; and as a result this heroic power has 
come. 

And it always will come. Christ is true 
to those who confess him. The very exer- 
cise of godliness has made the noblest men 
and women in the world. What a contrast 
between Queen Victoria's death and the 
death of the ex-king of Servia — the one 
lamented the world over, the other dying 
alone, and people asking, "Who was he?" 
But more widely different still were their 
lives; the one a pure, true woman, loving 
and serving God; the other a poor, weak 
creature, serving passion; the one entering 
upon her reward in the fulness of ripened 
years; the other sinking away in his prime. 
What a lesson for the young people of the 



i6 



My Best Friend. 



world! The man who confesses Christ 
confesses his love for One who can and will 
make him a hero, strong, noble, blessed. 



A Confessor's Comfort. 

II. " There is not much comfort in this 
world," groaned a poor soul whose eyes 
were fixed upon self. "There is every 
comfort here," sung the brave spirit whose 
hands were touching human need while the 
eyes looked into the face of Christ. It is all 
utter nonsense to talk about the woes and 
miseries of life. They are subjective, in the 
man's own nature, not in the sunshine or 
the air or the workings of men. 

Of course there is sin and its resulting 
crime, and of course there is the misery 
which is the child of ignorance and shift- 
lessness wretchedly yoked together. But 
there is a bigger vision for the man who has 
taken as his leader the Son of God. He 
sees the good to come; he struggles with 
the black soil of humanity, and minds not 
that his hands are stained, because he knows 
that from this battle will come a victory, the 
flower, the fragrance, the song. His com- 
fort lies not in any poor, cheap luxury of 



Confessing Christ. 17 

temporary idleness or indulged passion, but 
in the lifting of a banner, in the flocking to- 
gether of an army of lovers and workers 
for righteousness, in the promises which 
are already being fulfilled in his own spirit. 
What are trials to the child of Christ but the 
hurdles over which he leaps to find him- 
self a better man for the exertion ? What 
r.re sorrows but the heart singing in minor 
key the glory to come, whose rich major 
tones already are sounding far beneath ? 
What are annoyances but the stings of in- 
sects to make more energetic his motions 
towards perfect mastery ? Comfort is his 
because God is his. "All things are yours 
— and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 

The Confessor's Salvation. 

III. That word "salvation" is wonderful, 
because it so interprets life. I am always 
seeking salvation; my food is to save me 
from hunger; my clothing is to save me 
from exposure; my friendships are to save 
me from loneliness; my religion is to save 
me from ignorance and weakness and de- 
structive sin. Yes, more; my life means 
salvation "for" as well as "from"; I am 




18 My Best Friend. 

saved for pleasure, for comfort, for associa- 
tions of friends, for purity and excellence 
and power. 

Now Jesus says that his followers shall 
be saved. Their backs will be turned upon 
sin and darkness and misery, and their faces 
turned towards goodness and light and 
happiness, and they shall advance from the 
first to the last. Ignorance — "What am I 
and whence came I ?" — will find its answer 
in him who is confessed, "I am thy Fa- 
ther, thy Friend, and thou art my dear 
child. " Heaviness of heart — "Who shall 
deliver me from this memory of past sin 
and this stain of to-day ? " — will find its rest 
in the gracious assurance of the Leader, 
"Thy sins are forgiven; go in peace." 
Doubt — "Does it pay to struggle ? So long 
is the dawn in breaking, and the years are 
tedious ! " — is swallowed up in the victo- 
rious cry of the Christ; "It is finished! I 
have overcome the world I" And, as we 
speak our King's name, "Jesus," lo, from 
the clouds springs out the new earth, the 
beautiful home which is to be when the 
days are completed and all are safely gath- 
ered in; it is his home, and he brings to it 
all who love and trust and serve him. 



Confessing Christ. 19 

Have you confessed Jesus Christ ? Have 
you acknowledged him as your King, your 
Guide, your Saviour? If not, will you do 
so now, just while you read these lines ? It 
will bring a new life to you, and a new joy, 
and a new power. 

Difficulties. 

1. "I cannot see why it is necessary for 
me to do this publicly; why can I not con- 
fess Christ to myself?" For several rea- 
sons; manliness, loyalty, the joining of the 
ranks of men who are battling for good, the 
courage it gives to hear your own voice 
and to know you have stood up in the sight 
of men for righteousness, — these all call you. 
If you love God and believe in Christ, say 
so; and the result will be a blessing. 

2. "But I am afraid I may deceive my- 
self, and that I really do not believe in 
Christ." Do you believe anything about 
him ? Do you believe there was once such 
a being on earth ? Do you believe what the 
Bible says about him ? Faith grows. We 
are not asked to have complete, finished 
knowledge and trust at first; we come as 
little children. But, if you know anything 



20 My Best Friend. 

about Christ, if you have any faith in him, 
confess it, and more knowledge and faith 
will come. I love those words, — 

"The Shepherd does not ask of thee 
Faith in thy faith, but only faith in him." 

3. "I dread lest after confessing him I 
may sin and so bring shame to Christian- 
ity." If God is willing to take that risk, 
cannot you? He does not say, "Be sure 
that you will never do anything wrong, and 
then confess me." But he takes you just as 
you are, with all your weakness and liability 
to sin. To confess him is to gain strength 
which will help you master temptation. 

4. "I am not sure that I am ready to give 
up or to do certain things which Christ asks 
of me." Your responsibility is the same. 
If there is anything you know you ought to 
do, you are bound as a man to do it, 
whether you are a Christian or not. As I 
have said, confessing Christ does not in- 
crease responsibility, but it gives grace to 
meet it. 



Dear Master, how can I help confessing 
thee when thou art so good to me, so kind, 
so loving ? I give myself to thee, and con- 
fess that thou canst take care of me better 






Confessing Christ. 21 

than I can take care of myself. I know 
that thou art my Friend, and I will try to 
follow thee. Lead me ; make me like thy- 
self; bless me; and at last may I see thee 
face to face, O my King. Amen. 



II. 

TRUSTING CHRIST. 

Suggested- Reading, Phil. 4: 4-13. 



II. 

Trusting Christ. 



Prayer. 

THOU for whom the strife was strong, 
Thou who hast sung the conqueror's song ; 
Uphold me through the holy war; 

Make me a smiling conqueror. 

Thy bidding is not vainly sweet ; 
Thy cheerful soul my soul doth greet ; 
Thou vanquishest — my foes are down, 
For me the cross, for me the crown ! 

1 fight upon thy battle-field, 

Thy holy arms are mine to wield : 
Against me comes each foe of thine ; 
Repeat thy victory in mine. 

— Thomas H. Gill, 1848. 



Strength is a necessity if we would live. 
And because it is a necessity the whole life- 
struggle is centred upon it. We fight and 
plan and toil for power, physical, mental, 

2 5 



26 My Best Friend. 

moral, from the cradle to the grave. And 
our very zeal . in the contest is often the 
reason why we fail to obtain. We cannot 
make ourselves strong. If the efforts of the 
athlete seem to bring force and elasticity to 
his muscles, we must remember that not his 
exercise, but some great power working 
through the exercise, creates the strength. 
If the heaped-up books and the hours of 
study of the scholar seem to result in wis- 
dom, it is still some unseen inspiration 
breathing in the knowledge that we praise 
rather than the student. If the man gains a 
high idea of right and duty by prayer and 
Bible-study and meditation, we ascribe his 
excellence to the Spirit who has revealed to 
him the truth. The human effort is neces- 
sary to prepare the man for the gift, but the 
human effort does not and never can bring 
the gift; it is bestowed by God. 

To trust in Jesus is to look to him with an 
assurance that he will help. It is the con- 
stant thought of him as caring for us, the 
simple belief that he will never fail, the un- 
broken expectation that what we need will 
be supplied. It is based upon three great 
facts which the Bible teaches us and which 
our own hearts instinctively accept. 



Trusting Christ. 27 

God's Desire for Us. 

I. God wishes us to be strong, because 
strength means perfection and happiness, 
and for these God made us. Just as a 
father wishes his boy to be physically and 
mentally and morally developed, so our 
heavenly Father urges his children to grow. 
I think we are only beginning to realize this, 
for in the past religion seemed to discourage 
any care for the body or the mind. Men 
were taught to scorn the body and to lash 
and bruise it with whips. And they were 
taught that they must not think, because it 
was irreverent to pry into God's mysteries. 
And even the godliness to which they were 
urged was a sickly thing, a refraining from 
certain bad acts rather than a doing of good 
deeds. But now we understand why it was 
that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, 
and in favor with God; he came to let us 
know what God wished for us men and 
women. He revealed the image of perfect 
manhood, and bade us reach after it. "Be 
strong," he taught, "for your Father looks 
for strength in his children." 

It is this consciousness that God desires 
our natures to be rich and complete that in- 



28 My Best Friend. 

spires us. When I eat and sleep and exer- 
cise, I know that God wishes it that I may 
be strong in body. When I read and study 
and examine, I know that I am doing my 
Father's will because he would have me 
wise. When I fight sin, or go here and 
there comforting and cheering people, or 
stand up fearlessly against public wrongs, I 
know that I am pleasing him who would 
have me morally and spiritually perfect. 

God's Method for Me. 

II. The second fact is that God has made 
the way for my growth in strength very 
clear. He never has a desire for us without 
making it possible for us to reach that de- 
sire. If he says, "Be perfect," I can rest 
assured that there is some way for me to 
reach perfection. Now see God's way for 
us to grow strong. 

First, He establishes certain laws of life 
in order that we may do something our- 
selves and prove our willingness to receive 
that which he gives. For my body he says : 
Eat, drink, sleep, be clean, take exercise, 
use sensible defences against danger; and 
let the means used be the right means; that 
is, use the right food at the right time, drink 



Trusting Christ. 29 

the right thing, sleep enough, but not too 
much, etc. How wonderful these laws of 
health are! And they are God's laws. It is 
a part of our religion to keep them. Then 
for my mind he says: Think, read, examine, 
question, calculate, and in all this guard 
against falseness, prejudice, passion. Truth 
is waiting for you; seek it, love it, follow 
it, and you will grow wiser and better daily. 
And then for my spirit he says : Love good 
things, hate bad things, do good to others, 
be kind, be unselfish, talk to me, read what 
I have written, worship me with loving 
heart. 

Second, God places us in a position where 
we have to struggle, in order that he may 
assure us of his love as we trust him, in 
order that he may convince us of his power 
as we call upon him, in order that he may 
show us how things grow gradually as we 
cultivate patience. How beautiful it all is! 
God wishes me to be strong in body, and 
yet he suffers pain to come. Why ? So 
that I may not think it is my eating and 
sleeping and exercising that alone bring 
power, for he sends power, through these 
if he pleases, or in some other way which 
he judges best. God wishes me to be wise, 



3<3 My Best Friend. 

and yet he staggers me with a sight of my 
ignorance. Why ? Because he would teach 
me that wisdom comes only indirectly from 
books and study and discovery; it really 
comes from him, who works through books 
and study, or may reveal himself immedi- 
ately. God wishes me to be good, and 
then he permits me to be tempted, and I 
fall. Why ? Because he would have me 
know that my doing kind deeds and read- 
ing his Word are only means; that God's 
Spirit is the only goodness, and unless a 
man has that he cannot be good. These 
are God's methods by which he makes us 
strong. 

God's Assurance for Us. 

III. In order that we might know all this, 
the dear Father sent his Son to tell us all 
about it, and to show us just what life 
means, and to make the result certain. 
Jesus came, and he told God's children 
how the Father loved them and desired 
their happiness and strength. Then he 
lived it all through himself, saying, "This 
is the way your Father wishes you to do." 
And then he died, and said, "I do this that 
you may succeed, and that you may know 



Trusting Christ. 31 

that power will come from God to help 
and bless you. When you make mistakes, 
they may be forgiven; when you fall, you 
may be lifted up; when you seem to fail 
entirely, then you can rest in my victory. 
Because I am strong you shall be strong, 
for my strength is yours." Could anything 
be dearer and more comforting than that ? 
God wants us to know that we can succeed 
through the dear Lord who loves us. 

A dear friend gave me a book at Christ- 
mas called "Old Chester Tales," and in 
them all there is a fine old-fashioned min- 
ister whose eccentricity is excelled only by 
his goodness. Old Dr. Lavender never 
seems to doubt the possible success of any 
one in whom he is interested. As you 
read of his experiences, it seems as if he 
almost knew that God was working with 
him. "How true," I said as I read the 
book, "how true to God! He wants us to 
know that we cannot fail; that if we trust 
for strength it is bound to come. Weak 
though we are, he never loses confidence in 
us." "Of course," the dear Father seems 
to cry in human fashion out of the fulness 
of his divine love, "of course I will help 
you. I sent my Son, your Christ, to tell 



32 My Best Friend. 

you so." Strength of body and mind and 
soul, of heart and courage and life, — this is 
ours if we will love and trust and follow 
Jesus. 

Difficulties. 

i. " But 1 have asked him, and yet I have 
been weak." Yes, you have asked him, 
but have you trusted him ? There is a great 
difference. 

" I think God has been here," said a min- 
ister to his dear friend, as they sat for a 
while in the blessed church after the serv- 
ice was over. 

"I know he has been here, for he prom- 
ised," said the friend. 

If the strength has not been taken, it was 
your fault. God had it ready for you if 
you had reached out and seized it. 

2. "Must I not make some effort my- 
self?" The effort of using the means, but 
no other. Sometimes we defeat God's pur- 
pose by getting in his way, intruding our- 
selves so that he cannot act without injuring 
us. Trusting God is to leave him to fulfil 
his promise while we simply obey his com- 
mands. 



Trusting Christ. 33 

3. " You say God gives strength, and yet 
how many thousands of weak Christians 
there are! " It depends upon your measure 
of weakness. Sometimes God makes the 
greatest strength out of weakness. I heard 
of a dear invalid the other day, confined to 
her room for a long time, who is a power 
in her little community through her sweet, 
simple faith and sunshine. I have a letter 
on my desk from a poor, weak woman in 
Rhode Island, a sufferer for years, with a 
sick husband, and hardly money enough 
to keep the house warm, and she says, 
"These crosses and burdens keep us nearer 
him, and we grow in grace." Is not that 
strength of the right kind, even though the 
body be feeble and life limited ? 



O Lord, grantme such strength. I know 
thou desirest that I should be strong, and 
thou hast opened the way and given me 
the promise through Christ. Help me to 
go to thee and ask thee; and, when I have 
asked thee, to obey thee; and, when I have 
obeyed thee, to trust thee, that out of my 
weakness may come strength and out of my 
life a victory for Jesus, my Lord. Amen. 



III. 

WALKING WITH CHRIST. 



Suggested Reading, Col. 2:6; Gal. 5 : 16-26. 



III. 

Walking With Christ. 



Prayer. 

Still, still with thee when purple morning breaketh, 
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee ; 

Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight, 
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with thee. 

Alone with thee amid the mystic shadows, 
The solemn hush of nature newly born ; 

Alone with thee in breathless adoration 

In the calm dew and freshness of the morn. 

As in the dawning, o'er the waveless ocean, 
The image of the morning star doth rest ; 

So in this stillness thou beholdest only 
Thine image in the mirror of my breast. 

Still, still with thee ! as to each new-born morning 
A fresh and solemn splendor still is given, 

So does this blessed consciousness awaking 

Breathe each day nearness unto thee and heaven. 

— Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

37 



38 My Best Friend. 

We love to think of the privileges of the 
apostles as day after day they walked 
literally with the Master. We love to think 
of the disciples who walked with the Lord 
to Emmaus that Easter Sunday afternoon 
long ago. We wish we could have such 
an opportunity. Our eyes are eager for a 
sight of that dear face; our ears long for 
a message; our hearts are hungry for him. 

But it cannot be that they had privileges 
which we have not. God has always been 
just in his dealings with men. Notwith- 
standing their ignorant and foolish criticisms 
of his work, he has never been nearer to 
one generation of his children than to an- 
other. So we may be sure that we can 
live as near to the Master as did John and 
Peter. 

Walking in His Steps. 

I. Nothing else brings Christ so near to us 
as an effort, constant and patient, to do as he 
did. It is not the mere literal imitation of 
his ways and methods, for that takes away 
zest and reverence. But it is the healthy 
following of the principles which governed 
his life. A man may blindly follow the ex- 
ample of another, and yet be a miserable 



Walking With Christ. 39 

machine without force or vitality. It is not 
ignorant imitation, but manly indorsement, 
that tells. To realize the purpose of that 
perfect life, to study its spirit, to see how 
its principles can be made applicable 
amongst men to-day, — that is to draw very 
near to our Lord. We remember how 
clearly he grasped the meaning of his life. 
We recall how he seemed to see the whole 
way while he was just beginning. Even as 
a boy of twelve he said, "lam here to do 
my Father's business." Imagine our hav- 
ing a similarly clear and strong knowledge 
concerning ourselves; imagine our seeing 
the course stretching out to the sunset 
with all issues flowing into and becoming a 
part of it; think of a life having a single 
object to which all of power, of talent, of 
pleasure, of pain, was tributary; could any 
man have a conscious nearness to Christ 
greater than that ? Would it not be more 
real than the very body of Jesus was to the 
apostles ? For while they saw with their 
eyes and heard with their ears, they did not 
know who he was whom they heard and 
saw; nor did they know life, their own or 
his. Now we know, or can know, both; 
and as we strive to be true and strong and 



40 My Best Friend. 

noble and helpful, we can almost seem to 
feel the presence, and hear his "well 
done." 

Walking in Prayer. 

II. Companionship without conversation 
would be impossible. Of course there is a 
language or spirit which brings men near to 
one another, and they can let speech go for 
a while; but the hearts mutually ache to ex- 
press emotions and declare ideas and state 
truths which will not rest unspoken. How 
we love to talk to a true friend before 
whom we can let down the bars of reserve 
and speak with a sure confidence of under- 
standing and sympathy! Prayer is just 
that. To count God as so always near, as 
so always interested, as so always loving 
and so always true, that our wishes and 
emotions and works are sure, not only of 
recognition, but of close sympathy, — that is 
to have an idea of nearness to the infinite 
which is glorious. How beyond expression 
is the peace, the power of calm, which 
comes when the heart pours out in thought 
or speech before Christ the flood of its 
story, while the dear Master calms it down 
into a radiant sea of glass and fire, that is 




Walking With Christ. 41 

full of smoothness and force ! How near the 
Lord is when we tell him everything! It is 
a walking with him beside which the Em- 
maus journey seems tame; for the disciples 
were all sad and questioning, and knew 
who Jesus was only when he left them, 
while we know always his strength, his 
power, his friendship. 

Walking in Service. 

III. Life is not emotion, but a struggle, 
and a struggle not so much against foes as 
with circumstances. We are here not merely 
to conquer passions, but to educate, refine, 
make glorious the earth to men. When I 
go out, then, with the desire to rise higher 
and lift up life in general, I am walking with 
the Master, and very near to him. It is no 
holiday task. The Master is in the dark 
places of the earth. Still where loneliness 
and suffering and sin have unsheathed their 
weapons to kill, and hearts are ignorantly 
in misery, there is the dear Lord. And we 
walk with him when we join him there. 

Ah, the grand fellowship of work! We 
see it to-day as never before. The unions 
of all kinds are not merely economic; there 



42 My Best Friend. 

is a great deal to be said about their useful- 
ness and helpfulness in the world's advance- 
ment. But the power which they represent 
to the deep thinker is that of brotherhood — 
that men feel somehow drawn together by 
the very commonness of their battle with 
circumstances, by the very eagerness of 
their souls to reach pure, uncontaminated, 
honest air and sunlight. So when we re- 
member Jesus we are drawn to him in the 
same way. He worked; we work; and all 
for the same end, with the same ideals, in 
the same world, hearing the same cries, and 
thrilled by the same agonies of sympathy. 
This little poem of dear George Macdonald 
makes it quite clear: — 

I said, " Let us walk in the fields." 

He said, " No, walk in the town." 
I said, "There are no flowers there." 

He said, " No flowers, but a crown." 

I said, " But the skies are black ; 

There is nothing but noise and din ; " 
And he wept as he sent me back ; 

" There is more," he said ; " there is sin." 

I said, " But the air is thick, 

And fogs are veiling the sun." 
He answered, " Yet souls are sick, 

And souls in the dark undone." 



Walking With Christ. 43 

I said, " I shall miss the light, 

And friends will miss me, they say." 

He answered, " Choose to-night 
If I am to miss you, or they." 

I pleaded for time to be given. 

He said, " Is it hard to decide ? 
It will not seem hard in heaven 

To have followed the steps of your Guide." 

Walking in Hope. 

IV. Jesus saw the end for which he 
worked. Many centuries would pass before 
the old world should respond to his touch, 
but he saw it, as he looked out upon it from 
the cross, he saw it as it was to be at last. 
So, when he dealt with the poor and the dis- 
eased, they were not to him the wicked 
fragments of a hopeless estate, but the re- 
deemed parts of a perfect humanity. The 
ideal was made by him not only possible 
but real. It was for him not something to 
be striven after with some possibility of suc- 
cess, but something so sure that time was 
nothing to separate the result from the 
struggle. 

When a man keeps his eyes fixed upon 
the same ideal, and when his faith cries not 
of trust or thought, but of certainty, then he 



44 My Best Friend. 

walks very near to the Master. It is the de- 
spairing, blind, fatalistic way we have of 
working and looking that makes our paths 
so solitary. Christ never walked in the 
miserable, experimental paths that so many 
of us are treading. There was nothing of 
question with him as to the result of his toil, 
as to the coming of his kingdom. He saw 
it finished at the very start when he cried 
from the cross and when he went home to 
God and heaven. We are very near to him 
when such hope holds us, and our eyes are 
open all the way to the glory of our con- 
quering Companion. 

Difficulties. 

i. "It seems vague." That is because 
you have not tried it. Everything is strange 
to the man who only looks on. But go to 
work; do as Christ did; talk to him, serve 
him in the persons of his children; and be 
hopeful; and lo, the vague clouds will form 
into a body and you will recognize yourself 
and your life. 

2. "Practically, as an actual fact, do you 
believe the same Jesus who was once on 
earth is or can be near us to-day ? " Why 



Walking With Christ. 45 

certainly. He said so: " Lo, I am with you 
all the days." And we are conscious of his 
power and guidance, and his peace visits us. 
We do not live by our five senses; seeing 
and hearing are a small part of life, though 
rich blessings. The spiritual perceptions, 
desire for good, love of beauty, the sight of 
ideals, — these are the real things; and 
through these Jesus comes to us. 

3. " Why do you speak of Jesus as spe- 
cially amongst the poor and sad and de- 
graded ? Does he not love all his children ? " 
Yes, but he goes nearest to those who are 
so hungry, because he knows how they 
need him. Rich and educated people have 
so much of his blessed comfort that he leaves 
them, so to speak, while he cares for the 
wanderers. " Son, thou art ever with me," 
he said to the jealous elder brother. If we 
would get especially near to the Master, 
then, we must follow him in this service of 
lifting up the oppressed, the ignorant, the 
sinful. 



Dear Lord, I will follow thee. Take me, 
all I am and all I have, that I may walk 
with thee untrammelled by any earthly 



46 My Best Friend. 

weaknesses or faults. Look upon me, that 
the brightness of thy face may cheer me 
and burn out of me all selfishness and sin. 
And, above all else, speak to me, that I may 
know by thy dear voice where thou art 
and may be comforted by thy presence. 
So may I walk with thee till the shadows 
lengthen, and the evening comes, and my 
work here is done; and then do thou lead 
me to eternal peace, and open my eyes 
that I may see thee face to face. Amen, 
Lord Jesus. Amen. 



IV. 
SERVING CHRIST. 

Suggested Reading, i John 3 : 11-18. 



IV. 

Serving Christ. 



Prayer. 

Our Friend, our Brother, and our Lord, 

What may thy service be ? 
Nor name, nor form, nor ritual word, 

But simply following thee. 

We bring no ghastly holocaust, 

We pile no graven stone ; 
He serves thee best who loveth most 

His brothers and thy own. 

Thy litanies, sweet offices 

Of love and gratitude ; 
Thy sacramental liturgies, 

The joy of doing good. 

In vain shall waves of incense drift 

The vaulted nave around ; 
In vain the minster turret lift 

Its brazen weights of sound. 

The heart must ring thy joyous bells, 

Thy inward altars raise ; 
Its faith and hope thy canticles, 

And its obedience praise. 

—John G, Whittier. 

49 



5<d My Best Friend. 

Faith and practice have always been rec- 
ognized as the two parts of life and of re- 
ligion. Expression and action, theory and 
fact, emotion and experience, are the bal- 
anced sections of all truth and of all char- 
acter. Emotion without experience is un- 
reliable; experience without emotion is 
mysterious. Theory without fact is use- 
less; fact without theory is incomprehen- 
sible. The man who says he loves me, and 
yet does not help me, is a deceiver; and 
the man who helps me, and yet does not 
express his love, makes me afraid. So 
with Christianity. It has, and must always 
have, two sides, the side of faith and the 
side of service. Service without faith is 
unintelligent, like the actions of animals. 
Faith without service is unreal, like the 
breath of man which goes forth and is not 
seen. If a man says, " I love God," he 
must make his assertion good by his 
actions; and a man who does good must 
have some reason for doing good, or else 
his well-doing has no character. 

We are to think to-day of the practical 
side of Christianity. It is all very well, and 
very necessary, to believe in God, to join 
his church, to sing his praises, and to pray 



Serving Christ. 51 

to him, but we must do something more; 
we must work for him. 



Personal Work. 

• 

I. The individual Christian must realize 

that he is in the world to serve God. God 
our Father made us for a purpose, and the 
fulfilment of that purpose is the meaning 
of our lives. This personal work may be 
the special occupation of my days, the use 
of my art or my skill. It is a glorious 
thing when a man recognizes in his pro- 
fession or his business or his culture the 
voice of God saying, "I need thee in this." 
Or it may be that the work lies in some so- 
called homely duty, — housekeeping, or 
clerkship, or farming, with its thousand op- 
portunities for helping and cheering. How 
noble the spirit which counts all things 
great to which the Father calls his child! 

" Who sweeps a room as for thy laws, 
Makes that and the action fine." 

One has little patience with a human 
grading of gifts. The ploughman is as 
noble as the prince in God's sight, if he 



52 My Best Friend. 

does his work well. The street-sweeper 
and the president have equal opportunities, 
and a like blessing is waiting for each in 
return for faithfulness. Or it may be the 
personal work lies in suffering, in silence, 
in waiting. Milton, in his poem on his 
blindness, beautifully and pathetically 
says, — 

" Thousands at his bidding speed, 
And post o'er land and ocean without rest ; 
They also serve who only stand and wait." 

The noblest workers I have ever known 
have been " shut-ins,' ' who not only cheered 
all by their example, but in little, unobtru- 
sive ways made life to bud and blossom 
with luxuriant fragrance. We cannot be 
true Christians unless we are consciously 
doing something for God. 

Church-Work. 

II. Then there is the work to which God 
calls us through his church, and which it is 
important for us to do, not only that the 
church may grow and be a real leaven in the 
world, but that we may be living, useful 
members. "This church carries a great 
deal of dead wood/' said a critic once as he 



Serving Christ. 53 

saw the list of members and then noted the 
small amount of work done. Yes, " dead 
wood" indeed, making the burdens of the 
few heavier, and bringing decay to the 
whole fabric. Every Christian should do 
something in his church. The Sunday- 
school, the various benevolent societies, the 
brotherhoods, the prayer-meetings, these all 
call for helpers, and that they so often call 
in vain but proves the careless way in which 
we think of Christ and his church. Some 
time ago there was a grave discussion in one 
of our religious papers as to whether there 
was church-work enough for all the mem- 
bers! The very stating of the question 
showed a fine ignorance of the very mean- 
ing of Christianity. As well might a mem- 
ber of some family wonder whether he 
could do anything to make the family life 
richer and happier. There is a place and an 
opportunity for every one, and if he neg- 
lects his privilege the loss is his, and the 
church's also. 

General Work. 

III. But the true child of God cannot stop 
with personal work and church-work. The 
world also is waiting for him. Every city, 



54 My Best Friend. 

every village, every country place, has op- 
portunities for good which no one church 
can meet, and which Christians have to 
work together to fulfil. Take our Young 
Men's and Young Women's Christian Asso- 
ciations, our orphanages and hospitals, our 
nurseries and prisons, our rescue homes and 
our missions, and many like charities — O, 
how they cry for Christian men and women 
who will give their hearts, their time, their 
service! Everywhere there are poor people 
waiting for sympathy and guidance and 
cheer. Everywhere there are sinners wait- 
ing for some voice to call them upward. 
Everywhere there are fallen children needing 
a strong hand to lift them up. 

Yes, and there are the morals of each 
community to be toned up by the high 
ideals and brave struggles of God's people. 
For only by the righteousness of Christians 
can life be purified and reformations ac- 
complished. How can gambling and in- 
temperance and impurity be conquered save 
by the combined and fearless action of the 
children of God? We must forget our 
differences, while with a common love of 
God in our hearts we join ranks and make a 
united battle against common enemies. 



Serving Christ. 55 

Missionary Work. 

IV. And, finally, no Christianity is practical 
which does not look abroad and work for 
the salvation of all men. How foolish for 
us to pray, "Thy kingdom come," and yet 
not give a dollar to help tell people of that 
kingdom, people who would gladly enter 
in if only they knew what it meant! How 
unchristian to sing of Christ, and yet send 
no message to his children dying in igno- 
rance of his love for them! Missions are 
the very life of the church, and faith in 
them is a part of our faith in God. To 
pray, to work, to give, to study, to write, 
to speak, to live, missions is the very es- 
sence of true religion. We all can do 
something. The widow's mite, the child's 
prayer, the humble seeking to interest — who 
cannot practise Christianity by doing these 
things ? 

Ah, yes, diligence in service is as neces- 
sary as diligence in prayer. To work is to 
make worship effectual. And, when the 
Christian heart cries out with sincere devo- 
tion, "Dear Lord, I love thee," the hands 
and the mind echo, " Dear Lord, I will work 
for thee." 



56 My Best Friend. 

Difficulties. 

1. " But St. Paul speaks as if we were to 
be saved by faith rather than by works." 
Yes, for our works cannot save us. But 
really there can be no faith without action. 
If I truly love my friend, I cannot help serv- 
ing him. If I honestly have faith in God, 
my very soul bids me work for him. 

2. "Is it fair to judge of a man's Chris- 
tianity by what he does ? " Christ seems to 
say so. "By their fruits ye shall know 
them." And you remember the story of 
the barren fig-tree which had nothing but 
leaves. If my Christian life is healthy, it 
must bear fruit; and men will see my good 
works, and glorify not me, but my Father 
in heaven. 

3. "But there is so much to do!" That 
ought to be an inspiration rather than a 
burden. God asks no impossibilities. But 
he does open before us the door of oppor- 
tunity. And, when the man, with his heart 
aglow with love, looks out, he does not cry, 
"Alas, how can I?" but rather, "Lord, 
help me, and I will do all I can." 



Blessed Christ, who didst thyself give us 
an example of noble activity, make my re- 



Serving Christ. 57 

ligion real by inspiring me for constant 
service. Let me both work and pray, and 
may my work draw power from my prayer, 
and my prayer gain fervor from my work. 
Help me to hate idleness, not only because 
it leads to sin, but because it robs thee of 
my service. And in all things, dear Lord, 
make me eager to practise in my life that 
which I profess with my lips. For thine 
own dear sake. Amen. 



V. 

NOURISHED BY CHRIST 



Suggested Reading, St. John 6 : 26-35. 



V. 

Nourished by Christ. 

Prayer. 

Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless 

Thy chosen pilgrim flock 
With manna in the wilderness, 

With water from the rock. 

Hungry and thirsty, faint and weak, 

As thou when here below, 
Our souls the joys celestial seek, 

Which from thy sorrows flow. 

Be known to us in breaking bread, 

But do not then depart ; 
Saviour, abide with us, and spread 

Thy table in our heart. 

— James Montgomery. 



It is a dear thought that God feeds us. 

He feeds our bodies, and that is why we 

thank him always before we eat. He feeds 

our souls, and that is why we pray to him 

and praise him. The food we eat makes us 

strong to work and endure. The spiritual 

food makes us brave to resist temptation 

61 



62 My Best Friend. 

and to do good. Food for our bodies is 
material; we can see it and taste it, just as 
we can see and feel our bodies. Food for 
our souls is spiritual; we cannot see it or 
taste it any more than we can see our 
spirits. But we must always remember 
that one is just as important as the other, 
and that we cannot do without either. 

Christ gives us both kinds of nourish- 
ment. He loves to " spread a table before 
us" as he did before his apostles on the 
seashore that beautiful morning long ago. 
(St. John 21:9-12.) He loves, too, to give 
us that "hidden manna," the quietness and 
comfort of spirit, which he gave to the 
same apostles when he said, " Let not your 
heart be troubled." All our food comes 
from him. 

Living. 

I. But there is this difference between the 
two foods, that one has no life in itself, 
while the other is full of life. The bread 
which I eat has no personal power. It is 
only a compound of chemical properties, 
which combine with certain chemical prop- 
erties of my body, and grant muscular or 
nerve force. The spiritual bread is nothing 



Nourished By Christ. 63 

but personal power. It enters into me and 
becomes a part of me. It is Christ himself. 
He says, "I am the bread of life/' In some 
way, as we live near to him and love him 
and obey him, we become united to him; 
and so he gives us his power and strength. 
We cannot explain this; we only know that 
it is a fact which thousands have expe- 
rienced. Many a man, troubled and dis- 
couraged and sinful, has come in prayer, or 
through Bible-reading, or through worship, 
to Jesus, and received peace and enthusiasm 
and a consciousness of forgiveness. It 
must be that the words of Christ are true; 
he has entered into that man, and made him 
strong. He is a living, personal power. 
Do we know from experience what this 
means ? 

How Received. 

II. We find this living bread in many 
ways. God has made it as easy and as 
possible for us as he has made the securing 
of common bread. First, there is prayer. 
We ask Christ to come to us, and we come 
to him. The reason so many people are 
starving spiritually is because they do not 
pray. It is impossible for a man, who 



64 My Best Friend. 

really talks with God to remain unhappy or 
weak. Then there is Bible-reading, which 
is the study of God's message to us. Again, 
there is the Lord's Supper, when we re- 
member Christ's death for us, and are so 
closely joined to him around his cross that 
he calls the bread his body. Church wor- 
ship is another means. People talk about 
going to church in the strangest way, as if 
it were a mere gathering of people to look 
at one another, or to hear some man deliver 
an oration. " Going to church" is really 
coming to the family table, gathering to- 
gether for our weekly or daily nourishment, 
without which we simply cannot live. 
Then there is struggle — patient effort to 
find the highest and best. George Mac- 
donald, in a fairy story called " The Golden 
Key," beautifully illustrates this, as he tells 
in the tale how Mossy and Tangle pressed 
on through all kinds of experience until 
they came to "the country where the 
shadows fall," which was the ideal life. 
In all these ways we can feed upon Christ. 

Real Nourishment. 

III. It is only food which really makes 
bone and muscle; that is, which really be- 



Nourished By Christ. 65 

comes a part of us, that is healthy. Some 
things we eat have no nourishing power at 
all. Possibly it is the same way with some 
people in regard to religion; it never be- 
comes a part of them. A man may be very 
orthodox in his belief; but, if his belief does 
not enter into his very being and make him 
a purer, happier, more useful man, it is of 
no more benefit to him than so much bran 
or dried chips would be to his body. A 
man may pray — in form, and go to church, 
and even teach and do church-work; but 
unless his Christianity is his life, so that he 
feels it and loves it, he has not really par- 
taken of Christ. I think that is why Jesus 
used this word " bread " and spoke of " eat- 
ing it." He wanted to emphasize the im- 
portance of religion and life, the man and 
his faith, being one. Is your religion a veri- 
table part of you, so that you cannot be sep- 
arated from it ? Could you really live and 
yet not think of or care for God or God's 
children ? A missionary to Japan told me 
lately that what the Japanese people wanted 
to see was a proof that we really believed 
what we professed. If we could show, by 
touching the whole life of man, the social 
and the intellectual as well as the moral life, 



66 My Best Friend. 

that Christianity meant love, then the people 
would more readily be convinced. There 
are many about us here who are waiting for 
the same thing. 

The Only Food. 

IV. There is only one way to find satis- 
faction, and that is through Jesus Christ. 
Men have tried countless things, — money, 
pleasure, friendship, but they have all failed, 
and always must fail to satisfy human hun- 
ger of heart. Nothing but Christianity could 
bring the world up to any measure of civi- 
lization. Whatever of excellence the world 
has to-day she owes to the teachings and 
spirit of Christ. And she can grow better 
only as those teachings are more universally 
obeyed. So with the individual. Ah, my 
friend, as you read this, you know you have 

" Still the old unquiet breast, 
Which neither deadens into rest, 
Nor ever feels the fiery glow 
That whirls the spirit from itself away." 

You long for inward peace. You are 
hungry. Now listen. " Ho, every one that 
thirsteth, come ye/' " I am the bread of 
life. Take, eat." Give up all else, and 
come to Jesus. You ought not to have that 



Nourished By Christ. 67 

unceasing heartache. You ought not to have 
that restless sense of want. If you are a 
Christian in name, what is the matter that 
you are so cold, so formal, so inwardly out 
of sorts ? Does not your religion satisfy 
you? If not, then there is something 
wrong. Come directly to Christ, and ask 
him to feed you. Read on your knees the 
fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of St. John. 
This living bread can bless you; and noth- 
ing else, no one else, can. I love those 
lines of Matthew Arnold, of whom it might 
be said, as some one said of Shelley, that he 
tried so hard to be an agnostic, and yet was 
a Christian in his poetry, in spite of him- 
self: 

" 'Twas August, and the fierce sun overhead 
Smote on the squalid streets of Bethnal Green ; 

And the pale weaver, through his windows seen 
In Spitalfields, looked thrice dispirited. 

" I met a preacher there I knew, and said : 

' 111 and o'erworked, how fare you in this scene ? ' 

' Bravely ! ' said he ; « for I of late have been 

Much cheered with thoughts of Christ, the living 
bread.' " 

Difficulties. 

1 . 'Ms not all this mere figure of speech ? " 
No. There is a hunger of the spirit just as 



68 My Best Friend. 

real as the hunger of the body. Bread sat- 
isfies the latter; Christ satisfies the former. 

2. "Does Christ really satisfy ?" Yes, if 
you will permit him and obey the rules he 
gives you. Food will not nourish the body 
without exercise. So Christ tells us we 
must use the power he gives in order to 
make it effective. 

3. "Can we be satisfied here ? " Not per- 
fectly, because as we grow new desires ever 
appear. But life means seeking new food 
from God for each new longing. "Deep 
answers deep." (See Phillips Brooks's ser- 
mon on Ps. 42: 7, vol. 5 of sermons.) 

4. "Is this living bread free to all, or only 
to holy people ? " It is for all who are hun- 
gry. There are no holy people. We are 
all weak, needy, erring children. And as 
such Christ feeds us. 



Ah, dear Lord, thou knowest better than 
I can tell thee the hunger of my heart. Feed 
me and satisfy me. I cannot rest till I find 
rest in thee. Give me my daily bread that 
I hunger not, and spread thy table in my 
heart. For thine own dear sake. Amen. 



VI. 
CHRIST IN ME. 



Suggested Reading, Col. i: 21-29; Gal. 2: 20; 

St. John 15. 



VI. 

Christ in Me. 

Prayer. 

Blessed Saviour, receive my thanks for this word, 
" with you." And teach me, Lord, to make it my own 
in faith. For this end I will set myself in silence be- 
fore thee, and will wait upon thee. Lord, speak thy- 
self to me these words : " I am with you all the days." 
Amen. 

— Andrew Murray. 



The central power of the Christian re- 
ligion is the presence of God. All other 
religions have taught that the Creator is far 
away from his world. The message of 
God to the Jews was, "I will not leave 
thee." (Gen. 28: 15.) The message of 
Christ was, " Lo, I am with youalway." 
(St. Matt. 28: 20.) And Jesus teaches us 
how all-pervading this presence is. God 
sees the little sparrows fall. He clothes 
the grass of the field. He counts the hairs 

71 



7 2 



My Best Friend. 



of our head. And the apostles, following 
him, tell us that God is in the world recon- 
ciling it, that he is in us as a hope of glory, 
and that he dwells in our hearts. It brings 
God very near to us, and makes his strength 
real. If I am simply to obey the com- 
mands of a far-off Jehovah, it is hard. If I 
am near to my Father, touched by him at 
every point, loved by him, filled with his 
power, then to live becomes a joy, and the 
future is sure; "I shall be like him/' 



Reasonable. 

I. Sometimes people think such an ex- 
pression as "the indwelling Christ " to be 
a mere figure of speech. It is impossible, 
they say. And yet they speak of one 
man's being inspired by another. The 
spirit of Raphael entered into his pupils. 
Certain musicians belong to the Wagnerian 
school. There is "the age of Shake- 
speare." Now, if one man can so fill an- 
other with his spirit, his love, his ideals, 
that he is imitated almost instinctively by 
his pupil, cannot God fill us with himself 
so that we shall become his followers? 

It becomes all the more reasonable when 



Christ in Me. 73 

we remember that God is perfect; that he 
is a spirit, and possesses powers of which we 
humans are ignorant. A man pursues sin, 
and by and by he is so corrupt that we de- 
spise him ; Satan seems to have entered into 
him. So a man pursues righteousness, and 
by and by he is full of beauty; men love 
him and trust him, and they say, " He is a 
godly man." The Spirit of God has en- 
tered into him. 

God in the World. 

II. But the truth is even larger. When 
God came into the world, he was made 
man. Notice, he was not only "a man," 
or "the man," but "man." He entered 
into humanity and became a part of it. So 
that at once manhood was joined to God- 
hood, humanity to divinity. What does 
that mean ? Surely, that in some way God 
and men are united. " He took not on him 
the nature of angels, but he took on him 
the seed of Abraham." (Heb. 2: 16.) 
" The Son of God became Son of man that 
sons of men might become sons of God." 
By Jesus the chasm between God and man, 
between the Creator and the created, is 



74 My Best Friend. 

bridged. What a magnificent truth! God 
is here on earth, now, to-day, and that not 
in a vague way, but in the real power of 
his presence in the hearts and lives of his 
children. " Abide in me, and I in you." 
That is what creates self-respect and leads 
to victory. I am a King's son. The royal 
spirit is in me. I am all noble, body, mind 
and soul. " Beloved, now are we the sons 
of God/' (i John 3:2.) 

The Practice of the Presence. 

III. A good man named Brother Law- 
rence has written a little book called "The 
Practice of the Presence of God," in which 
he shows us how we may make this truth 
very real. Nothing can so surely bring 
happiness and strength, nothing can so 
surely drive away sin, as the conscious- 
ness that God is near. 

This "practising," then, is, first, the 
thought of God as near. Faber has such 
a beautiful hymn on the subject; here are 
two verses of it: — 

" The thought of God, the thought of thee, 
Who liest in my heart, 
And yet beyond imagined space 
Outstretched and present art, — 



Christ in Me. 75 

" The thought of thee, above, below, 
Around me and within, 
Is more to me than health and wealth, 
Or love of kith and kin." 

Second, we must talk to him as to one 
who is near, constantly, naturally. 

Third, we must recognize him as every- 
where, in flowers, in sunlight, in every 
beautiful thing. The "immanent God" 
men are beginning to call him as they real- 
ize how near he is; but we must know 
that, while he is everywhere, he is in a 
special sense in his children, a life, a power, 
a presence. "Lo, I am with you all the 
days." 

And, fourth, we must so recognize him 
in humanity, however that humanity may 
be degraded and the dear Christ hidden, 
that we shall serve it as serving him. That 
was his meaning when he said, " Ye did it 
unto me." (St. Matt. 25: 40.) As we so 
practise this presence, it becomes intensely 
real and comforting. 

The Higher Life. 

IV. Of course, then, it comes to this, that 
the more men have of this presence, the 
more Christ is permitted to live and grow 



76 My Best Friend. 

and rule in them, the higher their life be- 
comes. A man who believes in Christ, yet 
only thinks of him occasionally, and does 
nothing for him, cannot be very full of 
Christ's spirit. Even as the man who sel- 
dom looks at pictures or studies art can 
never be much of an artist, so the man 
who seldom looks at God or studies him 
can never be much of a Christian. We 
need to emphasize this, because it is only' 
this higher Christianity that can conquer 
and bless the world, that can comfort and 
cheer the Christian. "More of Christ !" we 
cry. Some men say that is a fanatical, an 
emotional cry. But how can it be, if it is 
possible to have him with us and in us at 
all? He is infinite; therefore we can, if we 
will, have his nature more and more rule 
our nature. Ah, it is dear to know that he 
will possess us, if we will suffer him, until 
we can say, " I live, yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me." (Gal. 2: 20.) 

" O hide this self from me, that I 

No more, but Christ in me, may live ! 
My base affections crucify ; 

Nor let one favorite sin survive ; 
In all things nothing may I see, 
Nothing desire or seek, but thee." 



Christ in Me. 77 

Difficulties. 

1. All this seems so "up in the air," "so 
unreal." But that is just the trouble, my 
friend. It ought not to seem so to you if 
you know and seek the real comfort and 
power of Christianity. Religion does not 
consist in being good; that is only a result. 
Religion is knowing God; and, when you 
know him and love him, you long for him 
to come near to you. That is not dreamy 
or intangible. It is the only real thing in 
the world, because it defies even pain and 
death. 

2. " But will not this make me too much 
of a contemplative Christian, like the old 
monks in their cells ? " By no means. It 
was not their contemplation that made 
some of the monks stay in their cells, but 
their lack of contemplation. For all true 
study inspires and arouses. And, when I 
really think of God as in me, it fires me to 
do the work of God. 

3. u But how is it possible for me to have 
this presence and yet sin ? " There are two 
answers. In the first place, St. John says 
a man cannot sin who is born of God. 
(1 John y. 9.) Evidently what he means 

LofC. 



78 My Best Friend. 

is not that man will not, through his weak- 
ness, commit wrong acts, but that he will 
not commit the sin of turning away from 
God. God will keep him because he is 
God's son. And, in the second place, 
though God is in the world reconciling it 
unto himself, that work is not yet com- 
pleted. It is not completed in us. "I 
find," says St. Paul (Rom. 7: 21), "a law 
that, when I would do good, evil is pres- 
ent with me/' It is a battle, but a battle 
with a sure end. God has patience and 
will help us if we trust him, so that these 
breaks and falls will become fewer. 

4. " How can I know that I have this 
presence?" By your longing for it. By 
your growing love for God and his service. 
By your growing love for others. In fact, 
you have it already; the only thing is for 
you to recognize it and rejoice in it. " I 
am with you " — just repeat those words 
slowly again and again, and your eyes will 
be opened. 



I thank thee, Lord, that thou art willing 
to live in me. I am not worthy, but thy 



Christ in Me. 79 

love breaks every barrier down. O take 
complete possession of me and make me 
wholly thine, in love, in worship, in serv- 
ice. Take myself, and I will be ever, only, 
all for thee. Amen. 






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